When Homelessness Becomes a Crime Instead of a Crisis We Solve

We are increasingly treating the visible effects of homelessness as offenses to be removed, while
leaving people without a reliable path to housing. Yesterday, a coworker told me how frustrating it is
to see the same people asking for money on a corner every day. Why do they not get a job, he asked. I
understand the fatigue of being asked repeatedly. But we cannot know a person’s circumstances from
a passing encounter, and frustration should not become permission to stop seeing their humanity.
We talked about people sleeping on hard concrete. How exhausted must someone be to sleep there?
How does that person safeguard belongings, bathe, maintain identification and transportation, and
show up ready for work? Mental health conditions may be part of some people’s experience, but we
should not diagnose strangers by sight or assume one explanation fits everyone. Punishing people for
sleeping outside does not answer where they can safely sleep. In 2024, the Supreme Court held that
the Eighth Amendment does not bar enforcement of public camping ordinances even when shelter is
unavailable.
We also asked why so many of the people we see appear to be Black and where white people
experiencing homelessness are. A street corner cannot tell us where every unhoused person stays. The
regional count can tell us this: in 2025, Black people were 56% of those counted experiencing
homelessness across the Houston region, compared with 21% of Harris County’s population. In
February 2026, 3,321 people were counted, including 1,270 unsheltered. A one-night count misses
much of the instability people experience throughout the year; the same regional report recorded
7,110 people entering homelessness for the first time in federal fiscal year 2025.
Another concern is the proposed federal housing rule. HUD has proposed allowing, but not requiring,
certain housing providers to set assistance limits of no less than two years for families that are neither
elderly nor disabled. It is not a blanket rule already removing everyone after two years. Still, a time
limit does not create jobs that pay enough to cover rent. We should ask local officials to publish
recurring spending on prevention, housing, behavioral health and outreach alongside spending on
enforcement, and measure whether each investment keeps people housed.
Our solution should be to prevent avoidable evictions, expand affordable housing and rapid rehousing,
and pair permanent supportive housing with voluntary care for people with the greatest needs.
Outreach should connect people to documents, benefits, treatment and work without making those
services a condition of basic dignity. These are established approaches, not wishful thinking:
Houston’s system housed 2,135 households in 2025, and 85% of people who exited homelessness
remained stably housed over two years. We can demand safe public spaces while funding the path that
gets people off the concrete and keeps them housed.

Written By: Lynita Robinson

Sources and established solutions
Coalition for the Homeless, 2025 count and racial disparity
Coalition for the Homeless, 2026 count and housing outcomes
Federal Register, HUD proposed housing term limits
U.S. Supreme Court, City of Grants Pass v Johnson
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Housing First solutions